


Talk to Me Like Lovers Do

by Rocky_T



Series: Shades of Gray [2]
Category: Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22983610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rocky_T/pseuds/Rocky_T
Summary: Seven makes a connection with one of her fellow Rangers. Sequel to "Vigilante."
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway, Chakotay/Seven of Nine, Kathryn Janeway & Seven of Nine, Seven/Bjayzl
Series: Shades of Gray [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651849
Comments: 4
Kudos: 39





	Talk to Me Like Lovers Do

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to Seema for her beta.

_Here comes the rain again  
Falling on my head like a memory  
Falling on my head like a new emotion  
I want to walk in the open wind  
I want to talk like lovers do  
I want to dive into your ocean  
Is it raining with you  
So baby talk to me  
Like lovers do  
Walk with me  
Like lovers do  
Talk to me  
Like lovers do  
\--The Eurythmics_

**Year: 2386**

"Who're you running from, girl?" Bjayzl asked softly. She propped herself up on one elbow as she waited for an answer.

“What do you mean?” Seven turned her head, feeling the softness of the pillow beneath her cheek, and didn’t meet the other woman’s eyes.

“The reason why you're here, why you gave up your cushy life in the Alpha Quadrant to come out to the Qiris sector, on the edge of Romulan space, to join the Rangers,” Bjayzl said patiently. A shaft of moonlight from the lone window spilled across the bed, making the small room almost as bright as day. “Nobody does that without good reason.”

Seven sat up, tugging the sheet to cover herself, suddenly feeling more exposed than she had moments earlier. Somehow this conversation seemed more intimate than the act which had preceded it, and she wondered why that was so. Since the day they’d met a few months ago, Bjayzl had seemed so kind and sympathetic that Seven had naturally warmed toward her. Bjayzl’s close resemblance to the Betazoid counselor Seven had worked with shortly after _Voyager_ ’s return had also made Seven more inclined to confide in her. Now, post-coital, Seven couldn’t deny the strong connection she felt toward the dark-haired, dark-eyed Ranger, whose confident matter and almost reckless penchant for taking risks spoke to something deep inside her. Half-remembered words banked deep in her memory, about not shutting herself off, but leaving herself open to making new connections.

“When we first got back, I felt pressured to meet the expectations placed on me,” Seven began to haltingly explain, trying to make sense of it for herself. “It was part of the whole adjustment to the Alpha Quadrant, the realization that as an ex-Borg the first reaction most people have to me is one of hostility.”

Bjayzl lifted Seven’s hand, the one with the prominent assimilation tubules, and kissed her fingers tenderly one by one. She then reached over and gently smoothed the blonde strands away from the ocular implant on her lover’s forehead. “You mean when they see this?”

“Yes,” Seven said, closing her eyes at Bjayzl’s touch. “The implants make it obvious.”

“You never thought about having them removed?” Bjayzl asked.

Seven opened her eyes once more. “I had had a lot of my implants removed when I was first severed from the Collective,” she said calmly, despite her discomfort at talking about the subject, even around Bjayzl. “But I am still left with the ones I need to sustain my bodily functions. No former Borg can live with all of them removed.” 

Perhaps seeing her unease, Bjayzl returned to the earlier topic of discussion. “Those expectations you were talking about, they were laid on you by your ex?”

“Yes,” Seven admitted. She had mentioned Chakotay to Bjayzl previously, discussed their relationship, and how he had been her first. Now she said, “I thought he loved me but it turned out he just wanted to rescue me.” In her mind, a thought echoed. _He has a great need to be needed_. “I thought I knew what love was, but we were just too different. On board _Voyager_ , it didn’t matter, but once we returned home…there were many things that eventually drove us apart.” _Not the least his feelings for someone else_. Seven swallowed hard, sought to banish the specter of Kathryn Janeway. She could barely admit to herself, even now, how she’d felt pushed away, neglected by her former captain, and yet still craved her approval.

“Typical male thinking, that every strong female needs a hero,” Bjayzl said with a laugh. She lightly traced her finger around Seven’s nipple, then stroked down her side languorously. “I could tell you’ve never been involved with a woman before this.”

Seven placed her hand on Bjayzl’s, stilling its motion. “It's not the shape or physical appearance of the person that is important, but what kind of connection there is between them.” She took a deep breath and sought to change the subject. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, why did you join the Rangers?” 

Bjayzl laughed again. “It's all about the latinum, baby.” 

“I know you must have altruistic motives driving you,” Seven protested. “Surely there are easier ways to earn money than to be part of the Rangers.”

“Yeah,” Bjayzl admitted. “You’re right; I wanted to make a difference.”

“Was it hard leaving your family and loved ones behind?” Seven asked curiously.

The expression on Bjayzl’s face hardened. “I don’t have anybody.” She paused. “They were all killed during the Dominion war.” Bjayzl had never said so overtly, but Seven assumed the woman was Betazoid. Now she remembered hearing how Betazed, considered the inner line of the Federation, had been occupied by the Jem’Hadar and imagined that was when the loss Bjayzl spoke of had occurred. Bjayzl’s next words seemingly confirmed it. “I was off planet at the time, on a trade mission. Afterward, I was just drifting from place to place, not really finding anything permanent, until I hooked up with the Rangers.”

Seven nodded. She, too, had lost her family when they’d been assimilated by the Borg. She squeezed Bjayzl’s hand, remembering how she’d learned how comforting a simple touch could be. “I know what it’s like to search for something, someone, that feels like home.”

Bjayzl blinked away some tears. “OK, that explains the ex, but isn't there anybody else you're still close to from that ship of yours?”

Seven resolutely pushed away any further memories of Janeway. “There was another ex-Borg who came back from the Delta Quadrant with _Voyager_ ,” she said. “A young boy whom I felt very close to.” She smiled. “In fact, Icheb is the closest thing I will probably ever have to a son.”

“What happened to him?” Bjayzl asked curiously.

Grateful for her interest, Seven began to speak about him and his career in Starfleet, his posting aboard the _Coleman_. 

Bjayzl leaned back against the pillows, listening avidly. Seven smiled at her, thinking that maybe she was no longer alone but instead had found someone with whom she could truly open up and be herself.


End file.
